An inspired spell of seam bowling from Jon Lewis, which left Surrey reeling at 75 for seven just over an hour into the third day, made Gloucestershire’s first championship win of the season more a formality than a revelation. The much underrated 28-year-old enjoyed near championship best figures of seven for 72 – almost bettering the seven for 56 he took on the same ground against Notts in 1999 – before the home side knocked off the 106 required for victory inside 26 overs.

Lewis’s destructive spell of 10-2-31-6 was topped and tailed with the wickets of Nayan Doshi, the Surrey nightwatchman, and Azhar Mahmood, both of whom were caught behind the wicket playing away from the body. The filling in the sandwich was Jonathan Batty’s slap to square leg, a wander from Rikki Clarke, a gross misjudgement on the part of Alistair Brown and Nadeem Shahid’s prod to Steve Adshed, the Gloucestershire wicketkeeper.

Martin Bicknell then illustrated for the second time in this match why his first-class career batting average is on a par with his bowling average. There is much to admire about his cover driving, however just as it looked as if he and Ramprakash were about to mount a counter-attack the 35-year-old all-rounder went to sweep Shoaib Malik and was caught at silly point.

Thankfully for those who paid to see a full day’s cricket, after Tim Murtagh had failed to trouble the scorers the cavalry arrived in the shape of Jimmy Ormond, who partnered the former Middlesex man for twenty-four overs to lend some respectability to the Brown Caps’ performance. The pair added 104 for the visitors’ last wicket, just shy of Bill Brockwell and Tom Richardson’s record for Surrey against Gloucestershire, made at The Oval in 1893.

Mark Ramprakash hit a typically patient and unruffled 64 not out off 118 balls, including six fours and a maximum that was picked up over square leg off the bowling of Mark Alleyne. But the lead partner was arguably Ormond who made a career best 57 in 84 deliveries, including ten meatily struck fours; of which only a couple came courtesy of an unguarded third man boundary.

When Phil Weston drove Martin Bicknell for two off-side fours in the first over of Gloucestershire’s chase it seemed as though their objective would be reached at a canter, but with the veteran seamer applying pressure from the Ashley Down Road End in the run up to tea the home side lost Weston, leg before, and the potentially destructive Craig Spearman, to a lofted catch to Andrew Hodd at mid-wicket.

The home side wobbled momentarily when, after the break, Nayan Doshi accounted for Tim Hancock and Chris Taylor, who dabbed a tame catch to slip, in quick succession, but Matt Windows and Shoaib Malik made sure there were no further mishaps, seeing their side home with a day and a bit to spare.

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